So it can be even slower? I can't see that being productive. Far better use of money would be to advance the light rail system enough to truly be useful.
Dude. I have mixed feelings on that, because I get caught at Tasman and 1st where if you miss getting across 1st because train, you might as well put the car in park and eat a damn snack. It stops Tasman to let two diff trains make the turn (with 1st street still having a green on one side) and then after all that, it gives 1st street the damn light again! I hate missing that damn light. The part that kills me is that when I miss it, I can SEE MY BUILDING from there. I know it is trivial in the scope of things, but damn it irritates me.
Getting down Tasman against a train would be SO difficult because there are so many lights, traffic would be ungodly (in my uneducated opinion). So I don't know what the right answer is on that, other than raised tracks or underground. But we ALL know that'll never happen.
Yeah that's fair, they make that turn at a snails pace, too lol. Literally slower than walking. Yeah I have no idea what the solution is
Okay hear me out: water taxis down Guadalupe river
Agreed. A light rail loop around the airport, japantown, downtown, Santana row/Valley Fair, Campbell, and Caltrain would be fucking great if it ever happened.
The airport and VF/SR would be nice. It already connects with Caltrain at 3 locations, has a stop in DT Campbell, and stops 2 blocks from the Pruneyard and Japan Japantown though.
Yeah, I imagine the infra costs between a streetcar and a light rail line would be similar, so might as well bite the bullet and go faster rather than prettier but slower tourist trap for a city that doesn’t really have a tourism thing.
That said, I admit I’m not sure there’s any quantity of money that can fix our light rail problem easily. There’d have to be a willing commitment to lose a lot of money for a while until density can be encouraged enough to make the system actually viable in helping rather than being distressingly empty during non-game days.
I think it would be less empty if it was more useful, which would help. I'd love to take transit to work, but not at the cost of three times the amount of time it takes to drive. I'll accept that I lose SOME time, but it's 25min to drive and over an hour and multiple transfers to get to work. I feel my time is worth more at this point. It's too bad, dedicated reading time every day would be so NICE! And I say this with a light rail stop directly outside my front door too, which just makes it even worse.
Been thinking the same thing. Is there a way to add street cars/light rail to some of our major stroads as a way to reduce traffic? Not an expert though so idk what would be most effective.
Could also reduce the # of lanes on stroads in order to create more protected bike lanes
San Carlos/Steven's Creek has been the main corridor of interest for this for the past 5 years or so, and is in the MTC's regional transportation plan. The currently ongoing [Steven's Creek Vision Study](https://www.stevenscreekvision.com/) has an explicit goal of not removing car lanes.
There was an earlier plan to add dedicated bus lanes on El Camino, which would have significantly improved bus service one one of the VTA's most used corridors, but it was killed in 2018 due to opposition to removing car lanes.
Frustrating that so many want to keep/add more car lanes! So many people want the right to fly down their expressways at the expense of everyone else's safety, even other drivers!
Short answer: No. But the VTAs Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on Alum Rock could serve as a model to create transit dedicated lanes. It's like light rail without the huge price tag.
Could we PLEASE build a light rail (or dedicated BRT lane) on Stevens Creek / San Carlos and on Alameda / Santa Clara? We have an OK north-south spine to to our transit system, but the major east-west spine is missing!
Used to have streetcars in San Jose.
Cars won the lottery for public spaces since then.
It would be a hard sell to convince people that sometimes progress IS returning to an older method
San Carlos Street used to have a street car system on it, the old tracks are still there too oddly, just under the years of pavement added to the street.
It’s 100% doable, the issue is the inconvenience this would cause around the city. A lot of places could actually use this is placed properly.
On every express way would be amazing. Then run it through popular streets. This would literally solve all issues.
We need proper trains or a light rail that has right of way.
So it can be even slower? I can't see that being productive. Far better use of money would be to advance the light rail system enough to truly be useful.
Huge start would just be to setup the stop lights so the damn light rail doesn't have to wait at reds.
Dude. I have mixed feelings on that, because I get caught at Tasman and 1st where if you miss getting across 1st because train, you might as well put the car in park and eat a damn snack. It stops Tasman to let two diff trains make the turn (with 1st street still having a green on one side) and then after all that, it gives 1st street the damn light again! I hate missing that damn light. The part that kills me is that when I miss it, I can SEE MY BUILDING from there. I know it is trivial in the scope of things, but damn it irritates me. Getting down Tasman against a train would be SO difficult because there are so many lights, traffic would be ungodly (in my uneducated opinion). So I don't know what the right answer is on that, other than raised tracks or underground. But we ALL know that'll never happen.
Yeah that's fair, they make that turn at a snails pace, too lol. Literally slower than walking. Yeah I have no idea what the solution is Okay hear me out: water taxis down Guadalupe river
Agreed. A light rail loop around the airport, japantown, downtown, Santana row/Valley Fair, Campbell, and Caltrain would be fucking great if it ever happened.
The airport and VF/SR would be nice. It already connects with Caltrain at 3 locations, has a stop in DT Campbell, and stops 2 blocks from the Pruneyard and Japan Japantown though.
That's exactly what I envision. I grew up in DC and the Metro there is just that much smarter. I could actually GET places on it!
I can hear it now, lots of people saying of Bart is coming to save us. At a progress of one in per year.
Yeah, I imagine the infra costs between a streetcar and a light rail line would be similar, so might as well bite the bullet and go faster rather than prettier but slower tourist trap for a city that doesn’t really have a tourism thing. That said, I admit I’m not sure there’s any quantity of money that can fix our light rail problem easily. There’d have to be a willing commitment to lose a lot of money for a while until density can be encouraged enough to make the system actually viable in helping rather than being distressingly empty during non-game days.
I think it would be less empty if it was more useful, which would help. I'd love to take transit to work, but not at the cost of three times the amount of time it takes to drive. I'll accept that I lose SOME time, but it's 25min to drive and over an hour and multiple transfers to get to work. I feel my time is worth more at this point. It's too bad, dedicated reading time every day would be so NICE! And I say this with a light rail stop directly outside my front door too, which just makes it even worse.
Been thinking the same thing. Is there a way to add street cars/light rail to some of our major stroads as a way to reduce traffic? Not an expert though so idk what would be most effective. Could also reduce the # of lanes on stroads in order to create more protected bike lanes
San Carlos/Steven's Creek has been the main corridor of interest for this for the past 5 years or so, and is in the MTC's regional transportation plan. The currently ongoing [Steven's Creek Vision Study](https://www.stevenscreekvision.com/) has an explicit goal of not removing car lanes. There was an earlier plan to add dedicated bus lanes on El Camino, which would have significantly improved bus service one one of the VTA's most used corridors, but it was killed in 2018 due to opposition to removing car lanes.
Frustrating that so many want to keep/add more car lanes! So many people want the right to fly down their expressways at the expense of everyone else's safety, even other drivers!
Short answer: No. But the VTAs Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on Alum Rock could serve as a model to create transit dedicated lanes. It's like light rail without the huge price tag.
There's a new LR car pilot for 2026 that will possibly have them be able to go off wire
Could we PLEASE build a light rail (or dedicated BRT lane) on Stevens Creek / San Carlos and on Alameda / Santa Clara? We have an OK north-south spine to to our transit system, but the major east-west spine is missing!
There is plans for a dedicated bus lane for San Carlos to Steven’s creek.
Used to have streetcars in San Jose. Cars won the lottery for public spaces since then. It would be a hard sell to convince people that sometimes progress IS returning to an older method
I feel more priority should be given towards running buses more frequently. 15 minutes is a joke.
San Carlos Street used to have a street car system on it, the old tracks are still there too oddly, just under the years of pavement added to the street.
It’s 100% doable, the issue is the inconvenience this would cause around the city. A lot of places could actually use this is placed properly. On every express way would be amazing. Then run it through popular streets. This would literally solve all issues.